Nothosaurus

Say it: no-tho-SORE-us

Name means: “false lizard”1

Ate: FishOther sea reptilesEarly Triassic to Late TriassicNot technically a dinosaur

Nothosaurus was a marine reptile that lived in the Triassic Period, about 245 to 210 million years ago. It looked a bit like a seal with a long tail and webbed feet, and it swam in warm seas that covered much of the world. It was not a dinosaur, but a different kind of reptile called a sauropterygian.1 2

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

251 to 201 million years ago3

Early Triassic to Late Triassic

Fossils found in

Germany, Israel, China, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Switzerland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States (California)3 1

Food

Fish1

Length

4 to 7 m1

most species about 4 m, but some like N. zhangi and N. giganteus reached 5 to 7 m

Artist's life restoration of Nothosaurus — How Nothosaurus may have looked, by Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com). CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Scientists still argue about colours and details.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Nothosaurus had webbed toes and probably a fin on its tail to help it swim, much like a modern seal.1

Some Nothosaurus fossils show that they gave birth to live young, not eggs. This is called vivipary.1

The name Nothosaurus means 'false lizard' because early scientists thought it was a lizard, but it was actually a marine reptile.1

Nothosaurus lived in the Tethys Ocean, a huge sea that existed between the continents of the Triassic Period.1

Trackways from China suggest Nothosaurus used its paddles to dig into the seabed to find hidden prey.1

Nothosaurus had a closed palate, which means it could breathe while holding food in its mouth underwater.2

Myth buster

Myth: Nothosaurus is often mistaken for a dinosaur.

Truth: Nothosaurus was a marine reptile called a sauropterygian, not a dinosaur. Dinosaurs lived on land and had different body features.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Nothosaurus
Named by: Münster 18343
Group: Other sea reptiles
Family / clade: Nothosauridae3
Classification: Sauropterygia3
Age of the rocks: 251 to 201 million years ()3
Rock formations: Jena, Erfurt, Karlstadt3
Countries: Germany, Israel, China, Netherlands, Italy, Spain3
Fossil records: 103 in the Paleobiology Database3
Also known as: Dracosaurus, Elmosaurus, Kolposaurus, Opeosaurus, Paranothosaurus, Shingyisaurus (older names now counted as the same animal)3
Discovery: Nothosaurus was named in 1834 by Georg Graf zu Münster based on fossils from the Muschelkalk of Germany. The type species is Nothosaurus mirabilis.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Nothosaurus swam, whether it used its tail and limbs together or mainly its body undulations.1 2

Where the facts come from

Nothosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Nothosaurus | Triassic, Marine, Reptile | Britannica (britannica.com)
Nothosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@dinowiki.app and we will fix it.